History / Istorija

On the Population and Politics: The 1832 Report of Prince Nikolai Dolgorukov, Governor-General of Vilnius, to Emperor Nicholas I

2026-02-05T17:04:38+02:00

In the Regulations of the Governorates Administration, issued in 1775, Empress Catherine II established the institution of the governor-general as the highest administrative authority in governorate administrations, which were composed of three or more governorates. Governors-general were placed under the direct supervision of the emperor and were required to prepare detailed reports providing information on the condition of the region entrusted to them, its pressing issues, and its political direction. This study aims to publish the 1832 report of the Vilnius Governor-General, Nikolai Dolgorukov, addressed to the emperor (original in Russian). The document analyses the situation following the 1830–1831 uprising, discusses planned measures in the region, identifies the main problems, and reveals the perspective of a Russian official on the western governorates.

Splendor Familiae. The Nesvizh Foundation of the Benedictine Nuns in the Time of Krystyna Eufemia Radziwiłłówna

2025-02-09T21:18:44+02:00

The first post-Tridentine female foundation in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the Benedictine convent in Nesvizh, established by Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł “Sierotka”. This article examines the principles and circumstances underlying the foundation of the convent, outlines its genesis, and discusses the successive stages of its organisation, including the construction of the church and monastic buildings. The community was formed by sisters brought from the Chełmno convent, where abbess Magdalena Mortęska had implemented a significant reform of monastic life inspired by post Tridentine legislation. The article further characterises the community’s development during the first decades of its existence, particularly under the tenure of abbess Krystyna Eufemia Radziwiłłówna.

Manuscript Heritage of Lithuanian History from the 18th to the Early 20th Century in Wrocław

2026-02-05T16:48:42+02:00

This article provides an overview of the manuscript heritage of Lithuanian studies from the 18th to the early 20th century in the archives of Wrocław, the capital of the Silesian Voivodeship in Poland. The main institution with the most extensive collection of Lithuanian archival material from the period in question is the National Ossoliński Institute, founded by collector and researcher of the heritage of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Józef Kajetan
Piotr Maksymilian Ossoliński, who lived at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. After his death, the library he founded operated in Lviv for a long time, and after World War II, its materials were divided between Poland and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. It can be said that the Lithuanian heritage preserved by the Ossoliński Institute is still little known to Lithuanian researchers. The institute holds collections related to the most prominent aristocratic
families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as well as collections documenting the activities of Vilnius University professors and members of the Vilnius Archaeological Commission.

The Representation and Interpretation of the Spanish Nationalists’ Ideological Positions in the Periodicals of Lithuanian Right-Wing Parties (1936–1939)

2026-02-05T16:54:01+02:00

The article examines how the newspapers of Lithuania’s right-wing parties, the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party and the Lithuanian Nationalist Union, XX amžius and Lietuvos aidas, represented and interpreted the ideological positions of the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). Their interpretations are assessed in the context of their respective parties’ ideological positions. The study applies S. M. Lipset and S. Rokkan’s cleavage theory. The findings reveal differing but consistently cautious newspaper evaluations of the faction’s more radical positions.

Women Against the Evil Empire? Lithuanian Catholic Nuns and Anti-Soviet Activities of the 1970s–1980s

2026-02-05T16:59:17+02:00

This article addresses the question: What was the role of Lithuanian nuns in anti-Soviet Catholic activities and in dissident networks of the 1970s and 1980s? We analyse examples of nun communities and individuals involved in anti-Soviet activities. We also reveal how women chose the path of resistance, the difficulties and risks they faced, including Soviet persecution and repression. Several factors encouraged and helped sustain the nuns’ underground
activities in the 70s and 80s. First, nuns were already used to operating in underground conditions due to Soviet anti-Catholic policy; because of Soviet repressions against monastic life in the 1940s and 1950s, they were living in tiny convents or alone, working lay jobs and hiding the fact that they were nuns. Second, nuns had the required skills to publish, print, and disseminate underground press and were encouraged by the Second Vatican Council to lead an apostolic lifestyle and engage in underground work.

Documents on Lithuania from the Vatican Archives

2026-02-05T17:07:37+02:00